Ignitible compound for matches.



'ac resin, gum, etc.

'GUSTAVE JONAS, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

- IGNI'IBLE CQIVIPOUND MATCHES.

m it may concern i lniown that I, Gus'ra vn Jones, a f the King of Belgium, residing at ssels, Belgium, have invented a new and moment in Ignitible Compounds and. 1 do hereby declare the o be a full, clear, and exact den the same. is weil known that up to the present tim chlorate of potassium has been'the principal base of the ignitible material made for the manufacture of safety matches having a special striking surface composed of red phosphorus, and this being so'generally ac cepted, the use of the chemical appeared to be absolutely necessary for this kind of industry,

The question whether chlorates of other bases, or the perchlorates of metals other than potassium, could be employed in the manufacture of the ignitible composition for matches, was wonth consideration. It is necessary however that the substances which enter into these compositions, must under no circumstances be hygroscopic. The chlorates of potassium and barium, with several others having costly metals as their base are the only ones which possess this advantage, and with these minute quantities of basic chlorates, such as those of copper, lead, etc, may be added with advantage in the preparation of the ignitible compound.

Chlorate of barium has been sometimes proposed as a substitute for chlorate of potassium in the manufacture of matches, but up till now it has not been a success as the inventors have not taken suliiciently into account the relative slowness of combustion of the mixtures of chlorate of barium, sulfur, The presence of reducing agents such as the hyposulfites, polythiomates, etc, certainly increases the sensitiveness to friction on any surface; but on a striking surface composed of red phosphorus, the match constantly crackles and only burns with difhculty, this being due to the presence. of water of crystallization contained in the chlorate of barium.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @ct. 1Q, 1916.

Application filed March 25, 1912. Serial No. 886,126.

It has been proved that a more rapid igni-' tlon and combustion of the composition on the, end of the match ma y be obtained, when this contains a small percentage of a nitro derivative, especially binitroand tri'n'itroor certain very inflammable substances like anthracene, pulverized gun cotton, et c.

Compoundsof sulfur, phosphorus and other analogous substances, containing chlorate of barium as their base evolve a strong odor of chlorin and of chlorin oXid,

'naphthalene, binitro-naphtoles, nitro-resin, 3

is an extremely grave inconvenience capable in itself of rendering the application of chlorate of barium in the manufacture of matches con'm'lercially impossible, as it was diflioult to obviate the necessity of the employment of sulfur or other analogous substances, which gave the required sensitiveness to ignition by friction.

It has been established that an addition of a slight percentage of cuprous sulfocyanate completely prevented the formation of chlorin and its oXids during the drying of those ignitible compounds having chlorate of barium for their base and containing sulfur or other analogous bodies. The cuprous' sulfocyanate acts in a manner unknown as it undergoes no change through oxidation, a phenomenon Whichis easily verified owing the change of color of this substance- Instead of cuprous sulfocyanate, other cuprous compounds may be used, such as cuprous cyanid Cu (CN) which acts in a similar fashion to a cuprous sulfocyanat'e, but it is more-difficult to prepare than the latter and is slightly less'stable.

(sulfites, sulfids, etc), and even cuprous Other cuprous salts act equally Well as stabilizers pounds are more unstable than the cyanid. It has also been found that the more insoluble mercurous salts of mercury also act as stabilizers, but at the same time they evolve a mercurial vapor while oxid of copper produced in the production of the paste remains in the ashes.

The specific gravity of the barium chlorate is considerably higher than that of chlorate of potassium, therefore theinflammable pastes prepared by the methods in actual use are much less voluminous when the chlorate of barium replaces the chlorate of potassium. For example, fifty matches prepared with an ignitible compound having for its base chlorate of barium, can easily contain a weight of dried ignitible material amounting to 1.63 grams, while with the inflammable mixtures-containing chlorate of potassium this weight ra rely attains 1 gram./ The difficulty arising from the heavier specific gravity of barium chlorate has been surmounted by taking advantage of the peculiar property of an ignitible compound which contains barium chlorate as a base of frothing or foaming when the ingredients of the base or ignitihle compound are mixed directly together,- that is, if the barium chlorate, glue and other pulverized substances makin the base are mixed directly with the necessary amount of water.

This foaming or frothing ofv the material is. taken advantage of by first mixing the barium chlorate and the powdered substances of the. paste with water, and afterward adding the glue. In this manner the foaming or frothing of the material becomes controllable, and this is especially true if a part of the pulverized ingredients or substances are reserved and mixed into the paste after. the glue has been added. The paste thus obtained, due to the frothing or foaming of thesubstances when mixed with water, is filled with minute hubbles. and when the glue is added again settle to form a liquid completely; freefrom bubbles, so that the matches when dipped into the paste will not for adefinite volume of the substances, have a greater weight of material than the same volume of paste prepared with potassium chlorate as the base. I v I Owing to the .peculiarity'of the inflammable composition having chlorate of barium as its base of evolving" chlorin freely, it is easy to understand that it is necessary to carefully avoid the presence of acid bodies in t that the use of bichromates is'impossible. Only perfectly neutral chr imstes are admissible. v

The following mixtures have given very does not hese comp'unds, and also weight of the paste.

I. i II. III.

Barium chlorate 50.0 40.0 50.0 Barium chromate. 0 20.0 Manganese di-oxid 20.0 Lead peroxid or caici 10.0 Ground glass 10.0 10.0 10.0 Cu rous suifocyunate 5.0 4.0 Bu fur. 5.0 5.0 4.0 Pulveriz 2.5 2.5 Resin 0.5 0.5 1. Gun cotton, pulverized 4 2. 0 2.0 5. Tragacan'th 0. G ue 5.0 5.0 5. 100.0 100.0 100.

Having fully described the nature of my 5' invention, what I claim and desire to secure paste for the production of match heads, the

step which comprises'nnxing a quantity of pulverized barium chlorate with the desired quantity of the non-adhesive constituents of the paste to be formed, adding water to the mass thus obtained, and then incorporating the adhesive constituents of the paste into the wet mass.

2. The process of'preparing an ignitible paste for the production of match heads which consists in mixinga quantity of pulverized barium chlorate with the desired quantity of non-adhesive constituents of the paste to be formed, adding water to the mass thus obtained, thenincorporating the adhesive constituents of the paste, then adding another quantity of the non-adhesive constituents. k

' 3. In the process of preparing an ignitible paste for the production of match heads the steps which comprise mixing pulverized barium chlorate and cuprous sulfocyanate' with the other non-adhesive constituents of the pasteto be formed, adding water a (1 then incorporating the adhesive constitu'e ts of the paste into the mass.

1. In the process of preparing ran ignitible past-e for the production of matci; heads the steps which comprise mixing pul erized barium chlorate and a cuprous compound insoluble in water with the other nonadhesive constituents of the paste to be formed, adding water and then incorporating the adhesive constituents of the paste into the mass.

In testimony whereof. I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAVE JONAS. Witnesses S. OAKSLY, CHAS. RoY NAsMrrH. 

